Editing Laurus

{{short description|Genus of flowering plants in the laurel family Lauraceae}}
{{Distinguish|Larus}}
{{About|the genus of evergreen trees}}
{{automatic taxobox
|image = Laurus novocanariensis (Garafía) 01 ies.jpg
|image_caption = ''Laurus novocanariensis''
|taxon = Laurus
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]] (1753)<ref name = powo/>
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision = 
*''[[Laurus azorica]]'' {{small|(Seub.) Franco}}
*''[[Laurus nobilis]]'' {{small|L.}}
*''[[Laurus novocanariensis]]'' {{small|Rivas Mart., Lousã, Fern.Prieto, E.Días, J.C.Costa & C.Aguiar}}
|synonyms =
*''Adaphus'' {{small|Neck. (1790), opus utique oppr.}}
*''Appella'' {{small|Adans. (1763)}}
|synonyms_ref = <ref name = powo>https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:328263-2 ''Laurus'' L.] ''[[Plants of the World Online]]''. Retrieved 28 June 2023.</ref>
}}

'''''Laurus''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|ɔː|r|ə|s}})<ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Laurus}}</ref> is a [[genus]] of [[evergreen]] trees or shrubs belonging to the laurel family, [[Lauraceae]]. The genus contains three or more species,<ref name=TPL>{{cite web|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=Laurus|title=The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species}}</ref> including the bay laurel or sweet bay, ''L. nobilis'', widely cultivated as an ornamental plant and a culinary herb.

==Description==
They are slow-growing, large, evergreen aromatic shrubs or trees with alternate, ovate leaves and insignificant yellow male and female flowers borne on separate plants ([[dioecious]]). They are frost-hardy but in temperate zones they require a sheltered spot in full sun that is not subject to prolonged freezing. Plants in pots can be moved into a cold greenhouse during the winter months.<ref name=RHSAZ>{{cite book | editor-last = Brickell | editor-first = Christopher | title = The Royal Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants | year = 2008 | page = 612 | publisher = Dorling Kindersley | location = United Kingdom | isbn = 9781405332965}}</ref>

==Species==
The number of species in the genus has not yet been fully resolved.<ref name=TPL/> Three species are currently accepted:<ref name = powo/>

*''[[Laurus azorica]]'', {{small|(Seub.) Franco}} – Azores laurel. Native to the [[Azores]].
*''[[Laurus nobilis]]'' {{small|L.}} – bay laurel, true laurel, or sweet bay. Native to the [[Mediterranean region]]. Used as an ornamental plant and culinary herb (one type of [[bay leaf]]) used in Mediterranean style dishes. It was also the original source of the [[laurel wreath]] of ancient [[Greece]].
*''[[Laurus novocanariensis]]'' {{small|Rivas Mart., Lousã, Fern.Prieto, E.Días, J.C.Costa & C.Aguiar}} –  native to [[Madeira]] and the [[Canary Islands]]. Formerly included in ''L. azorica''.

==Fossil history==
[[File:Fanal Madeira 2016 2.jpg|thumb|300px|Very old laurel trees on Madeira island]]
Fossils dating from before the [[Pleistocene]] [[glaciation]]s show that [[Laurel forest|laurel forests]] containing species of ''Laurus'' were formerly distributed more widely around the [[Mediterranean basin|Mediterranean]] and [[North Africa]], when the climate was more humid and mild than at present.<ref>{{cite journal
|title=Development and regional differentiation of the European vegetation during the Tertiary
|journal= Plant Systematics and Evolution
|last=Mai
|first=Dieter H.
|date=March 1989
|volume=162
|pages=79-91
|doi=10.1007/BF00936911
|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00936911
|s2cid=25109937
|url-access=subscription
}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal
|title=A reconstruction of Palaeo-Macaronesia, with particular reference to the long-term biogeography of the Atlantic island laurel forests
|journal=Journal of Biogeography
|last1=Fernández-Palacios
|first1=José María
|last2=de Nascimento
|first2=Lea
|last3=Otto
|first3=Rüdiger
|last4=Delgado
|first4=Juan D.
|last5=García-del-Rey
|first5=Eduardo
|last6=Arévalo
|first6=José Ramón
|last7=Whittaker
|first7=Robert J.
|date=February 2011
|volume=38
|issue=2
|page=226-246
|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2010.02427.x
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2010.02427.x
|issn=1365-2699
|s2cid=86477003
|url-access=subscription
}}</ref> It is currently thought that the drying of the Mediterranean basin during the glaciations caused ''Laurus'' to retreat to the mildest climate refuges, including southern [[Spain]], [[Portugal]] and the [[Macaronesia]]n islands. With the end of the [[last glacial period]], ''L. nobilis'' recovered some of its former range around the Mediterranean.<ref>{{cite journal
|title=Reconstructing the demise of Tethyan plants: climate-driven range dynamics of Laurus since the Pliocene
|journal=Global Ecology and Biogeography
|last1=Rodríguez-Sánchez
|first1=Francisco
|last2=Arroyo
|first2=Juan
|date=November 2008
|volume=17
|issue=6
|pages=685-695
|doi=10.1111/j.1466-8238.2008.00410.x
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2008.00410.x
|s2cid=86508226
}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal
|title=Late Neogene history of the laurel tree (Laurus L., Lauraceae) based on phylogeographical analyses of Mediterranean and Macaronesian populations
|journal=Journal of Biogeography
|last1=Rodríguez-Sánchez
|first1=Francisco
|last2=Guzmán
|first2=Beatriz
|last3=Valido
|first3=Alfredo
|last4=Vargas
|first4=Pablo
|last5=Arroyo
|first5=Juan
|date=July 2009
|pages=1270-1281
|volume=36
|issue=7
|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2009.02091.x
|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2009.02091.x
|issn=1365-2699
|s2cid=45076431
|hdl=10261/65203
|hdl-access=free
}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Arroyo-García, R., Martínez-Zapater, J.M., Fernández Prieto, J.A., & Álvarez-Arbesú R. (2001). AFLP evaluation of genetic similarity among laurel populations. ''Euphytica'' 122 (1): 155-164.
*Barbero, M., Benabid, A., Peyre, C. & Quezel, P. (1981). Sur la presence au Maroc de ''Laurus azorica'' (Seub.) Franco. ''[[Anales Jard. Bot. Madrid]]'' 37 (2): 467-472. Available [https://web.archive.org/web/20081001170956/http://www.rjb.csic.es/pdfs/Anales_37(2)_467_472.pdf online] (pdf file; in French).
*Costa, J. C., Capelo, J., Jardim, R., Sequeira, M., (2004). Catálogo Florístico do Arquipélago da Madeira. ''Quercetea'' 6, 187-200.
*Mabberley, D.J (1997). The Plant Book: a Portable Dictionary of the Vascular Plants. Second edition, pp.&nbsp;393–394.

==External links==
* [http://www.horta.uac.pt/species/plantae/Laurus_azorica/Laurus_azorica.htm Photos of ''L. azorica'']

{{Taxonbar|from=Q21188}}

[[Category:Lauraceae genera]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]
[[Category:Dioecious plants]]
[[Category:Lauraceae]]